A new government regulation requiring all imported goods to have labels printed in Indonesian before entering the local market could increase job orders in the printing industry, according to a printing association.

Indonesian Printing Companies Association (PPGI) chairman Jimmy Juneanto said on Friday that the revised regulation would help local printing businesses see a growing number of orders from foreign exporters wishing to market their products in Indonesia.

“I totally agree with the revision. There have been many cases where they [foreign exporters] printed their Indonesian-language labels elsewhere outside Indonesia,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Trade Minister Thomas TrikasihLembong announced on Tuesday that he had revised the mandatory Indonesian-language labels requirement. The previous regulation said that printed labels must be attached to imported goods “before entering the country”.

Thomas revised the stipulation to “before entering the local market”, meaning the printed labels could be made in Indonesia.

“Foreign exporters previously had to print the labels abroad before their products arrived at Indonesian customs areas in order to comply with the old regulation,” he said.

Customs areas can be found at most international airports and harbors, and sometimes also function as storage warehouses.

Under such circumstances, foreign exporters printed Indonesian-language labels in their respective countries or elsewhere outside Indonesia.

Jimmy said he often witnessed that many imported goods’ labels were written in improper Indonesian or even sometimes in Malay, which is the national language of Malaysia.

“We pretty much welcome the revised regulation and we are waiting for an effective implementation in the field,” he said.

Thomas said the revised regulation, which took effect as of Oct. 1, would urge foreign exporters to find local printing companies or local contractors to attach Indonesian-language labels to their products as they were no longer obliged to have the labels before entering customs areas.

The local printing industry, according to Jimmy, generally grows in line with the country’s economic growth, with printing for Indonesian-language labels contributing very little.

He said that he was upbeat that the revised regulation would help the industry to strengthen despite current economic headwinds.

Amid economic turbulence this year, printing businesses, particularly conventional ones, have been largely supported by demand for school booklets and ballot papers for regional elections.

Thomas said that the revised regulation was part of the government’s first economic policy package to propel the country’s economic growth.

The Trade Ministry is set to revise and/or revoke a total of 26 regulations, with four already revoked and five already revised in September.

The remaining revisions or annulments of the other 17 regulations are set to take place soon, according to Thomas.

In a related development, the government announced its second economic policy package earlier this week in an attempt to attract more investments amid the economic downturn. It also plans to issue a third package sometime next week.